Amanda Knox warned by police that she would spend 30 years in prison

Amanda Knox was warned by Italian police that she would be sent to prison for 30 years if she did not tell the truth over the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher, a court has heard.

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Amanda Knox, accused of killing her British housemate two-years ago, listens to questions during her trial in PerugiaPhoto: AFP

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Amanda Knox reacts as she testifies for the first time during her trial on June 12, 2009 in the courtroom in PerugiaPhoto: AFP

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Amanda Knox, accused of killing her British housemate two-years ago, testifies for the first time during her trial n PerugiaPhoto: AFP

By Nick Squires In Perugia

10:18AM BST 13 Jun 2009

Giving evidence for a second day in her murder trial, Miss Knox, 21, told the court in Perugia, Umbria, that investigators were rude and aggressive and told her: "If you don't start telling the truth, we'll put you in jail for 30 years." She repeated allegations she had already made that an officer slapped her on the side of the head and called her a "stupid liar".

Speaking in fast and fluent Italian, gesticulating with her hands and often raising her voice in the face of cross-examination by the public prosecutor, she said confusion arose over a text message she had sent to her boss on the night of the murder.

Her boss, Congolese businessman Patrick Lumumba, had told her he did not need her to work in his bar that night, and she had replied in Italian: "Fine, see you later".

Miss Knox said Italian police had interpreted the phrase "See you later" as a firm plan on her behalf to meet up with Mr Lumumba later that evening.

She insisted that in English it was simply a casual sign-off but said police refused to believe her and pressured her to blame the murder on Mr Lumumba.

In the end she caved in, accusing Mr Lumumba of being the murderer. He spent two weeks in prison but was later cleared of any involvement in the crime and is now suing the American student for defamation.

"They kept saying 'tell the truth, tell the truth, you must be able to remember'.

"They said they were convinced that I was protecting someone. They were saying 'Who is it? Who is it?' They were saying: 'Here's the message on your telephone, you wanted to meet up with him, you are a stupid liar."

She demonstrated to the court how a woman police officer had twice hit her around the head.

Miss Knox, who was nicknamed "Foxy Knoxy" on her MySpace page, and her former boyfriend, Italian IT graduate Raffaele Sollecito, 25, are accused of murdering Miss Kercher, 21, of Coulsdon, Surrey, during a violent sex game in which the Briton's throat was cut.

An Ivory Coast-born drifter, Rudy Guede, 22, was found guilty of being involved in the murder in a separate trial last year and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The trial, which is expected to last at least until October, continues.